Squirting cucumbers blast their seeds over distances hundreds of times their length, and now scientists say they have found the secret to how the plants do it.

The squirting cucumber Ecballium—not to be confused with the exploding cucumber Cyclanthera—is not a showy plant. It meanders on a vine on the ground, sprouting craggly green leaves and demure yellow flowers.

A team led by the University of Oxford has solved a mystery that has intrigued scientists for centuries: how does the squirting cucumber squirt?

"Ballistic seed dispersal" is not something you see often in plants – and for good reason, perhaps, when you see just what the affectionately called squirting cucumber is capable of. Shunning external helping hands like wind or animals,